Legal Question in Workers Comp in Alabama

Hi, I had an injury on the job (lower back) and it resulted in two surgeries for L-5-S-1 disc. I continued to experience severe pain and still do so my surgereon got workers comp to approve a po-dunk pain doctor. Let me add that my case has been settled yet medical remains open......Anyway this pain doctor drug tested me one day and I failed it. I can provide many details of why this was a false positive and I was kicked out of her care. I requested a retest and an appointment with her to explain and prove that this was a mistake and she refused. Well, I'm still hurting severely and called workers comp today to request a panel of four for pain doctors and was immediately told that "if" they award my panel that all four doctors will be notified by them of my drug test and would likely prevent any of them from accepting me as a patient and even if I do that they likely wouldn't offer much help. Is there any way around this? Can they tell these docs this stuff? I'm 34 with three kids and I work in severe pain every day. My life if you can call it one is so miserable due to chronic pain that I sometimes wonder if I should do a bad thing.......It affects not only me but my wife and kids too? Any advice? I need some help badly.


Asked on 8/17/10, 3:30 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Jon Lewis Lewis, Feldman, & Lehane, LLC

If you had an attorney for this case, you need to contact your attorney to file a Motion with the Court. If not, you need to write to the Judge who approved your settlement and ask him/her to have a hearing to discuss the termination of your medical treatment.

What drug test did you fail? Was it an illegal drug or a prescription drug? IF it was a prescription drug, didn't your doctor prescribe it? Unless you took it outside the directions for use or took an illegal drug, how could it be your fault that you failed the test?

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Answered on 8/22/10, 3:45 pm


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